Shots fired at black couple's home in hate crime, police say

June 1, 1997
Web posted at: 3:41 p.m. EDT (1541 GMT)

GRAYSON, Georgia (CNN) -- Six shots were fired into the home
of an African-American couple one week after they endured
racial taunts while moving into a predominantly white
neighborhood outside Atlanta.

The couple was not injured in the Saturday incident, but one
bullet missed the husband by only a few inches, authorities
said.

Lee and Elizabeth Smith were asleep when the shots were fired
from a nearby road, with bullets shattering their bedroom
window, police said. Police are treating the shooting as a
hate crime because of last week's incident.

Investigators told the Smiths they expect to make an arrest
in the case based on descriptions of two men, believed to be
in their late 20s, who yelled racial slurs at the couple a
week earlier.